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Lot Essay
The Danish ceramist Axel Salto is widely known for his sculptural innovations in clay. Moving beyond staid, functional household goods or ornamental work drawn from archaic sources, the ceramic work of Salto stems from a modern ethos and process deeply rooted in nature.
Born in 1889, Axel Salto was trained as a painter at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Art in Copenhagen. A fortuitous visit to Paris in 1916 gave the young artist a chance meeting with Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse. This visit changed the trajectory of his art, and by 1925, Salto had his international debut in the 1925 Paris Exhibition. Salto’s work in this period, manufactured at Bing & Grondahl porcelain, shows the influence of Matisse, with brightly colored and patterned surfaces rendered in a high, crystalline glazes. The exhibition exposed Salto to prevailing trends within the international avant-garde and within a few years, bright color and superficial decoration had given way to Salto’s critically acclaimed carved and sculpted vessels.
Salto’s signature vases of the 1930s through the late 1950s display bold and asymmetrical forms, reflecting a deep adherence to nature as muse. Salto categorized his work in simple terms—ribbed, budding or sprouting—characteristics within which endless varieties of ceramic form and experimental glaze would emanate. At the Royal Copenhagen Porcelain works, Salto experimented with stoneware, allowing the artist to create uniquely built sculptural artworks as well as cast vessels for a broader audience. The heavily textured surfaces, ripe with budding protrusions, deeply incised lines and sprouting, thorny appendages, created physical barriers directing glazes to run and pool in the kiln. Experimentation and chance created unique characteristics of glaze on each work, adding a textural counterpoint to the expressive forms.
With a subtle palette of earthy colors, Salto’s glazes are alluring for their soft greens and blues, rich oxblood reds, and shimmering whites. The combination of form, color and scale have enshrined Salto’s influence on artists, inspiring collectors around the world for nearly 100 years.
Born in 1889, Axel Salto was trained as a painter at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Art in Copenhagen. A fortuitous visit to Paris in 1916 gave the young artist a chance meeting with Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse. This visit changed the trajectory of his art, and by 1925, Salto had his international debut in the 1925 Paris Exhibition. Salto’s work in this period, manufactured at Bing & Grondahl porcelain, shows the influence of Matisse, with brightly colored and patterned surfaces rendered in a high, crystalline glazes. The exhibition exposed Salto to prevailing trends within the international avant-garde and within a few years, bright color and superficial decoration had given way to Salto’s critically acclaimed carved and sculpted vessels.
Salto’s signature vases of the 1930s through the late 1950s display bold and asymmetrical forms, reflecting a deep adherence to nature as muse. Salto categorized his work in simple terms—ribbed, budding or sprouting—characteristics within which endless varieties of ceramic form and experimental glaze would emanate. At the Royal Copenhagen Porcelain works, Salto experimented with stoneware, allowing the artist to create uniquely built sculptural artworks as well as cast vessels for a broader audience. The heavily textured surfaces, ripe with budding protrusions, deeply incised lines and sprouting, thorny appendages, created physical barriers directing glazes to run and pool in the kiln. Experimentation and chance created unique characteristics of glaze on each work, adding a textural counterpoint to the expressive forms.
With a subtle palette of earthy colors, Salto’s glazes are alluring for their soft greens and blues, rich oxblood reds, and shimmering whites. The combination of form, color and scale have enshrined Salto’s influence on artists, inspiring collectors around the world for nearly 100 years.